FUN WITH HUNGARICANA #7 : THE LIBRI REGII in HUNGARICANA : WHAT'S INSIDE?

This post continues on the exploration of the Hungariacana databases.

Please note that there are extensive collections that are not uploaded onto databases. ***

NATIONAL ARCHIVES OF HUNGARY - HUNGARICANA - DATABASES - LIBRII REGII

Let's start with what "Librii Regii" means. This are Latin for "Royal Books" just as Királyi Könyvek, is Hungarian for "Royal Books" as well. But they are casually referred to as King's Books.

The collection contains 67 volumes of official records from the Hungarian Chancellery, documenting important state documents issued by the Kings of Hungary and Austria-Hungary between years 1527 and 1867. (So that includes Queen Maria Theresa's time on the throne.) Patents of nobility are just part of this collection. There are also wills, the ownership and transfer of ownership of land (a principal aspect of wealth), as well as many other aspects of royal decrees (laws, policies, and rules). *** However, you may need to ask an archivist at the National Archives of Hungary for some help, unless you can make your way through the Latin handwriting.

When you go to the link you will see a number of images (start pages) and the numbers below them indicate the DATES that are covered.

There are some images that are PRESS PRINTED IN LATIN.

There are some images that are handwritten in LATIN.

And there are some of these in HUNGARIAN.

BECAUSE SOME IMPORTANCE WAS GIVEN TO THESE DOCUMENTS, many were made with an attention to readability and neatness - beauty.

I'm going to link to a book of heraldry - family crests - coat of arms.  These are for the TITLED NOBILITY OF AN ERA and this book has over ONE THOUSAND PAGES. THIS BOOK IS FOR THE YEARS 1901- 1909.

HUNGARICANA ARCHIVES : BOOK IMAGE 71.1 KIRALYI KONYVEK  This is the cover image but you can SEE the artistic representations of each coat of arms.  The very first one has a crow holding an envelope in its mouth.  

YOU WILL ALSO SEE THAT THREE GREEN HILLS ARE PRESENT IN MANY OF THESE COAT OF ARMS...

This motif is so common in Hungarian arms, and I've not found a definitive reason why.  I venture that these indicate the Carpathian mountains and the story of how the tribal people who were seeking a homeland followed a White Stag through. Without reading the information given, I cannot say that this also indicates that the original members of the family were part of that adventure.

You will also see arms with swords. These indicate that the person battled or persevered over the Ottoman Turks who were in control of Hungarian lands for centuries - depending on locations - 

LINK TO MAJOR ARPAD HUNGARICANA - ROYAL BOOK - MAJOR ARPAD image 0082

This particular book may be of interest also because there are a good number of GERMAN SURNAMES included, including some who are listed as Medicinae Doctor (M.D.): Literally "Teacher of Medicine".  However, just as we call PhD educated people "Doctor", the use of this term may be honorary.

Interested in learning more about these databases.  See my past posts.  They will all come up if you click on the label  Pro Tip Hungaricana Fun

HUNGARICANA URBARIUM 1767 : HOW STATUS on CHURCH AND CENSUS RECORDS CAN HELP YOU WITH YOUR HUNGARIAN GENEALOGY TIP#15

HUNGARICANA URBARIUM 1767 : HOW STATUS on CHURCH AND CENSUS RECORDS CAN HELP YOU WITH YOUR HUNGARIAN GENEALOGY TIP#15

This post is an addition to previous posts on the 1767 Urbarium (also called the Marie-Theresa Census) which was a previously posted genealogy series at this blog!  You can bring up the whole series by clicking on the tag/label Pro Tips: 1767 Hungaricana Urbarium

Just going over some of my personal research.

I mentioned that sometimes you will find in birth, marriage, and other church records the profession or "status" of the person listed.  And that when you look at the Marie Theresa census findings, you will also see that people are listed by class or status. First listed is the owner of the estate, then the Colony, then Inquilis and then Subinqulis.  I want to expand upon that.

I mentioned that sometimes in Latin or Hungarian (and sometimes in Slovak or German) the mention of Free People or People free to go.  These people are usually mentioned in COLONY.  I said that people in the COLONY list are sometimes called "Perpetual People" and that meant that they came with the land, or they were "always there." 

Some of these people did indeed seem to "always" live there, but some of the free to go or COLONY people are also what is called Castle Warriors or the nobility of the lowest nobility, or sometimes nobility of the highest but for whom there is no more land or money to go around.  These great families may have split land, sold land, lost land, or been disenfranchised due to the slaughter by the Turks or in war with them over hundreds of years. Now on small plots of land sufficient to feed their family and sell some on the side, they may also be listed in the 1828 land census. However, they are still nobles and recognized and honored as such. 

Let's say you are dealing with COMMON surnames. However you see on church records that someone is listed as COLONY.  Therefore if you see people of the same surname on the census in the COLONY you probably have a match.  Colony people owned their land, so the may be matched with the names on the 1828 Land Census.  Now, if the person with the surname is listed as a subinquilis, a person sub-renting the land to farm on, thus close to the serf-landlord relationship with that surname, we cannot confuse them with the people in the Colony.

It's not a guaranteed match for things did happen back in the day that were not usual.  It is always possible that someone who was a servant for the landlord inherited land from him.  It's possible that the beautiful maiden of a subinquilis marries the landlord.  However, class structure was what it was, such situations were not usual.

Arranged marriages continued the idea that one should marry in their own class and in farming communities who married who might be a community decision. Additionally, some landlords did act as though they owned every man's woman, and might want to be with a virgin before she could meet up with her new husband on his wedding night. Such conditions were akin to what happened in American slavery, not all the time, but sometimes. I wish I could say that religion prevented this but I doubt it did. Sexism, as we see it, prevailed. 

Back in that day people were born into the circumstances that would effect if not dictate their entire lives. To have Choice is what Freedom as all about. Declaring freedom is not the same as actually having it. 

Noting class and status on records is important and may be just the thing that helps you connect correctly to the right ancestors.

Gen Tips: 1767 Hungaricana Urbarium is the tag that brings up all posts in this series.

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Image of Queen Marie Theresa is in public domain.

HUNGARIAN URBARIUM 1767 : GETTING THROUGH THE REPORTAGE FROM INQUIRY : GENEALOGY PRO TIP #12

HUNGARIAN URBARIUM 1767 :  GETTING THROUGH THE REPORTAGE FROM INQUIRY : GENEALOGY PRO TIP #12

As I did early in my URBARIUM 1767 genealogy research tips, I encourage you to imagine the census taker and his entourage on horseback - with or without carriage - making it through roads that are almost all rural (and in towns may still be muddy and rutted by the wheels of carts) and generally unmarked - surveying the landscape and even giving names to places that may not have had official names based on the way the topography looked. He traveled ruggedly over a rural country, slowly by today's standards, and finding accommodations along the way will be important to his well being.

Imagine him coming towards a huge estate, perhaps owned or used by one of the wealthiest nobles in the country who also owns estates in other places - towns - villages - counties - in the country, which is a far vaster Hungary than there exists today. Serfs and others who live on the land may warn him or his retainers that the census taker is coming and they might even be in cahoots with him to not tell the whole truth about what he owns. (Note on the URBARIUM the testimonials may also be witnessed by and sealed with wax by local dignitaries, if the town has one, such as a judge.)

The census taker sits down to have a conversation with the noble or his estate manager - it's an interrogation - and during this time it's not just his observations but also the testimony of the land owner that will be written down. If you are like me you scan this portion looking for important and recognizable names, maybe print it out, hoping that you will be able to pick through it, maybe some time when you wake up at three in the morning!

There is a POSSIBLE solution to this dilemma, and on this I must say Google as a search engine and Google translate are very helpful.

I get comments on this blog that I consider to be spam because they are usually someone warning against using Google or any other translation and instead hiring a Hungarian and English speaker. For the English speaker, however, I think using these is best to start. (And the translation may seem awkward but you'll get what's being communicated!)

Using the search engine, put in the words Urbarium Hungaricana and then the TOWN NAME. And up will come an opportunity to use the Google Translator.  Accept it. Sure some words will translate too literally, for instance a surname that also means a profession.  You can always go back to the original handwritten book, if what you read in English intrigues you.

I put in the words Urbarium Hungaricana Forro (a small town) 
and here is what came up: ARCHIVES HUNGARICANA HUNGARY - FORRO TRANSLATION OF FRONT PAGE

Clicking on the tag Gen Tips: 1767 Hungaricana Urbarium will bring up all posts in this genealogy series. 

To get to all the posts/genealogy tips regarding the NATIONAL ARCHIVES OF HUNGARY/ Hungaricana's URBARIUM 1767 you can search this BLOG by looking through my archives, through searching for the word URBARIUM using the Google Search Feature embedded in the blog, or by clicking on the link at the bottom of the post.

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A GUIDE TO HISTORY OF REFORM PROTESTANT CHURCH in SLOVAKIA- ZEMPLEN COUNTY

http://www.refzem.eu/ REFORM CHURCHES ZEMPLEN / SLOVOKIA  translates to English on Google.

I found this site searching for historical information on Nagy Geres and Kis Geres.  I found it to be a fascinating site because it has story of various village and town churches that were in Zemplen County, Hungary that are also in Slovakia now.  I was able to learn that possibly a town fire may be the reason why I may not be able to get the marriage and birth records I've been periodically checking for through FamilySearch.com, Ancestry.com, etc, for a few years. 

One never knows if possibly a transcription project has stalled or if the records were never filmed for microfilm or moved to databases. Possibly the records are in Hungary or Slovakia.

So let me explain that I have often been accused of "extreme genealogy," and that I have research tactics most people do not or would not even think of doing.

What I did years ago was read all the records for 200 years of a certain Catholic church, where I found a second marriage in the Catholic church and the marriages of children in the Catholic church, but no evidence of a first marriage or the grandparent's birth in the same Church.

It was convincing to me (and still is) that this was a Catholic family.  But as there is also a Reform church in that town - and the records for it seem not to be available, I had to think "well MAYBE they were not baptized Catholic or married Catholic."

What I did that was extreme was keep track of who was living in certain house numbers.  I learned that there probably wasn't anyone from this branch of the family living in the village before 1865.  And so they were either Protestant or living elsewhere.

Living in the same dwelling are a couple with the same surname but with a 16 year age difference, which to me means that the person 16 years older is probably not the father. And due to his name and age, I would suspect he was on a 2nd marriage and was a first son in a family.  So maybe an uncle?  But I can't find this couple married in any records available in databases.

Now that I learned that one of the villages mentioned on a naturalization had a fire about then, I'm thinking that they moved due to that fire and the records went up in flames.

Luckily the brick wall may not have tumbled, but I have so many more lines to follow!

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HUNGARIAN URBARIUM 1767 : IT BEGAN IN 1767 : GENEALOGY PRO TIP #6

HUNGARIAN URBARIUM 1767 : IT BEGAN IN 1767 : GENEALOGY PRO TIP #6

With my precious dog at my side, I've picked back up with my EXTREME GENEALOGY practice of reading the front pages by settlement in each county - yes the ENTIRE 1767 Census that Maria Theresa ordered be done, so she could access the economic condition of the country she ruled as part of the Austrian Empire!  Now I will eventually focus on what is personal to me, but I think I have lots to share with those of you who are just now also facing this census. 

It's wonderful that the HUNGARIAN NATIONAL ARCHIVES have put up a searchable text database with the basics under each landholder's surname. I could easily use the search feature to look for just specific surnames, but I really want to get the lay of the land.  It's one thing to notice that the Eszerhazys or Andrassys are the 1% at the time, another to see how their holdings compare with the few farmers who are not land barons or of nobility: Yes there are a few!

I've been reading around Queen Maria Theresa, ruler of the Hapsburg's Empire of which Hungary was a part. She wanted to tax the nobles and land barons.  They had not been paying taxes and didn't want to, so it's said that they lied about the vastness of their holdings and that up to 2/3rds of the country was not actually represented in this census. They may have even had the cooperation of those serfs, servants, retainers, and employees who lived on their land to keep quiet about how much they owned.  

But first of all, I know the date of 1767 is on it, but that's actually when the census began.  In actuality it took about 6 or 7 years to cover the country by census takers who were traveling on horses and carriages or on foot. I've found my first notes taken in 1848, a pivotal year in Hungarian History, as well. So you know that in 1848 there were more notes taken in certain places, that census takers or other officials were sent back to those places.

I've printed out a map of the countries so that I can keep track of where I am in this quest, and yes, I'm finding that rare surname I've been searching for, which I believe is in Hungarian documents at least back to the 1300's. 

Those of you who are following along with me are probably wishing I would hurry up already and post everything I know to share with you. And those of you who live in Hungary and these counties and know the language fluently are probably thinking "I already know that! What I could tell her!" (There's always Comments!)

Others of you who read MAGYAR AMERICAN BLOGSPOT and don't do genealogy are probably wishing I would post on the here and now of my life as an American Citizen of Hungarian heritage!  I will try to please all of  you a bit but this is going to be a URBARIUM KIND OF SUMMER. 

To get to all the posts/genealogy tips regarding the NATIONAL ARCHIVES OF HUNGARY/ Hungaricana's URBARIUM 1767 you can search this BLOG by looking through my archives, through searching for the word URBARIUM using the Google Search Feature embedded in the blog, or by clicking on the link at the bottom of the post.

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This post is part of a series. To print up all posts, click on the tag Gen Tips: 1767 Hungaricana Urbarium

HUNGARIAN URBARIUM 1767 : THE GIVEN AND SURNAMES OF WEALTHY PEOPLE : GENEALOGY PRO TIP # 4

HUNGARIAN URBARIUM 1767 : THE GIVEN AND SURNAMES OF WEALTHY PEOPLE : GENEALOGY PRO TIP # 4

This 1767 URBARIUM, a census of Hungary, by then-existing counties, starts out by listing the property owner, administrator, or servant of the house - who can speak for the owner, most of whom are male.  Maybe, if you read many counties as I have, you too will become sensitive to the repetitions of surnames, many of them famous counts and nobility, others just people with enough wealth to own some land.  For those of you who have read church records, you may have realized that for the craftsman / commoner class of people, there seems to be a given naming convention that goes like this.

First son - Janos
Second son - Andras
Third son - Istvan

First daughter - Maria
Second daughter - Erzebet

If a couple had a first son, Janos, who died, when they had another son they would name that son Janos so the naming pattern was altered due to death.  If this happened and then the oldest son who would inherit is named Andras, you MAY find that in that family first sons will be named Andreas.  It was as if there was a limit to the names working - commoner people could use. 

After a while you begin to think that MAYBE names like Gyula (Julius) or Apollonia are so rare, it means something.  It might.  (I've tripped across a number of Apollonia baptisms in which the child was not legitimate!)

Well, I've noticed that on this census, there isn't just a repetition of surnames that indicate wealthy families, but also a far larger range of given names for the men; Szigmond, Gedeon, Laszlo (Louis - there are lots!), Amandne, Antal, Gyorgy, Sander (Alexander), Ferenc (Frank), Ignac, Peter, Pal (Paul), Imre, Marton, Farkas... and lots of EUGENES!***

I must look into this because it certainly seems a class driven naming.

However, you will find that there are some names listed on those front pages of this census that are more common!  Just rarely.  Andras for instance seems not to appear much at all.

These naming patterns have to do with WHO inherits.  Hungary practiced giving the FIRST SON the estate, unless he died before he could assume it.  That means that in common families, there were more JANOS (John) with inheritances.  Being an Andras, a second son, one didn't inherit unless the first born died. (A father could choose to give a daughter or daughters an inheritance but generally would not unless he had no son.  A daughter's portion was generally about one quarter of the estate.)

What happened in the United States with naming children? Some immigrants continued the naming patterns for a generation, or for the children born in Hungary, but the younger children born here got names the family had not used before!  Assimilation.

What about Germans in Hungary?  They continued the naming patterns of German culture. (For instance you may see children of commoners given two names on their baptismal records.)

Please - BE AWARE THAT AS WITH CHURCH AND OTHER RECORDS, you are likely to find Hungarian, Latin, and Slovak, and German words, depending on where and the preferred language of the census taker. Maria Theresa wanted Hungarians well educated, but in German.*** 

Just reading over this post at the end of April.  The EUGENES seem to be in honor of a Count of Shonbrun, Eugene of Savoy (but don't quote me on that yet!)

*** In an effort to both dominate and unite the various countries and territories ruled by Austria, Queen Maria Theresa, considered a progressive at the time, wanted the German language used. She also decreed that Gypsies / Romani and recent immigrants into Hungary be called UJMAGYAR  - New Hungarians.

To get to all the posts/genealogy tips regarding the NATIONAL ARCHIVES OF HUNGARY/ Hungaricana's URBARIUM 1767 you can search this BLOG by looking through my archives, through searching for the word URBARIUM using the Google Search Feature embedded in the blog, or by clicking on the link at the bottom of the post.

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This post is part of a series.  To print up all posts, click on the tag Gen Tips: 1767 Hungaricana Urbarium

MARIE THERESA - ARCHDUCHESS OF HAPSBURGH - A "PROGRESSIVE"

 NEW MAY 31 2021

HUNGARIAN URBARIUM 1767 : WOMEN - WIDOW PROPERTY OWNERS! : GENEALOGY PRO TIP #2

HUNGARIAN UBARIUM 1767 : WOMEN - WIDOW PROPERTY OWNERS! GENEALOGY PRO TIP #2

HUNGARICANA URBARIUM 1767

Besides the names of wealthy and noble COUNTS (GR. Graf or Grof) that you'll see on the Urbarium of 1767, you will see that YES, there ARE WOMEN WHO ARE OWNING PROPERTIES. Most of them listed are clearly widows.  Yet the term Grafne, Countess, is not used but implied if the GR is used for the husband. (Ne is the Hungarian suffix to a surname that indicates the woman is married and to whom.)

EXAMPLE:

TURANSZKY LASZLONE OZV.  (See (village) Imreg in Zemplen county)

This translates to the widow of Laszlo Turanszky (and she sure does have a lot of property in many named places!)  (OZV is the abbreviation for widow frequently seen in other historical records.)

EXAMPLE:

NAGY JANOSNE HARTVIK ROZALIA  (See village Toszeg in  County of Pest-Pilis-Solt)
This translates to Roszalia Hartvik widow of Janos Nagy, and I think her full birth name is included because the name JOHN BIG/GREAT is so EXTREMELY COMMON. Notice that she is likely Slovak and he is Hungarian, and neither are considered nobility.

How do you know if the named place is a town, village, or farmland? Well, you will want to read the details, but a clue that it's farmland only - A FIELD, is that it has no HAZATLAN on it owned by the property owner/administrator. HAZ means house, but the word HAZATLAN means buildings.  You can't even say dwelling, as it could be a tool shed or a barn. The workers may live elsewhere, in huts, sleep in fields, or the owner of the land might have a fine house not too far away in a cluster of houses - a village or town. (Wealthy property owners may also live in town but have overseers at their country properties.)

EXAMPLE:

LELESZI PREMONTREI PREPOSTAGE  (See village Lelesz in County Zemplen)
This translates purely to the PROVOST is the administrator for the property, like the landlord has hired a management company and is absentee. Although the word Provost in English is most associated with an educational institution or sometimes a religious one, in this case think administrator or property manager!

EXAMPLE : KIRALYI KAMARA. (Seen in many locations)

This sounds like the property is owned by a King, right? But in Hungarian a Kirayi Kamaras translates to Groom, or lord of the bedchamber, so likely the census taker talked to someone in the position of being a servant to the owner, rather than the administrator PREPOSTAGE above. (Think houseboy!)  In other words the person who answered the door. Ah well, neighbors reported on neighbors on the USA 1940 Federal Census too, so even Queen Marie Theresa's census takers didn't always find a home/palace owner home!

To get to all the posts/genealogy tips regarding the NATIONAL ARCHIVES OF HUNGARY/ Hungaricana's URBARIUM 1767 you can search this BLOG by looking through my archives, through searching for the word URBARIUM using the Google Search Feature embedded in the blog, or by clicking on the link at the bottom of the post.

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This post is part of a series. To print up all posts, click on the tag Gen Tips: 1767 Hungaricana Urbarium